LATEST ADDITIONS

The man who signed the Beatles to their first recording contract has joined <A HREF="http://www.garageband.com/">garageband.com</A&gt;, an online venture for musicians. On October 21, the San Francisco-based website announced that Sir George Martin has assumed the position of chairman of its advisory board. The board's membership includes some of the music industry's best-known professional and creative talent, according to garageband.com co-founders Tom Zito and Jerry Harrison.

Steven Stone writes that "the Signature SC-VI is probably the most 'anti-tweak' flagship high-end speaker ever made." In his very thorough review of the <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com//loudspeakerreviews/162/">Dunlavy Audio Labs Signature SC-VI loudspeaker</A>, Stone details this legendary audiophile favorite from top to bottom. Is it the perfect speaker? Stone lays down his verdict, and more.

Last week, <A HREF="http://www.worldspace.com/">WorldSpace</A&gt; announced that it has launched what it describes as "the world's largest digital audio broadcast system." The new system is based on a satellite radio service that recently began transmitting a wide array of multilingual radio programming across the entire African continent.

It's five years from now. Wide bandwidth has made audio-on-demand as commonplace as ATM machines and cellular phones were in 1999. Music lovers can plug into the Internet from almost anywhere and download any tunes they wish to hear anytime they wish to hear them for only pennies per song. Portable devices the size of wristwatches contain entire libraries of music. Picture frames, computer screens, and ceiling tiles all double as loudspeakers. Intuitive programs suggest personal playlists based on databases of prior requests. People are awash in a sea of music.

One of the most amazing things about the march of technology is the way quality goes up as prices go down. Only a few years ago, CD recorders were among the rarest and most expensive audio components. Now they're beginning to appear at budget prices.

Madrigal Audio Labs designed the original Mark Levinson No.30 nearly 10 years ago with the idea that, as a Reference Series product, it would never be made obsolete. John Atkinson reviews the No.30's latest upgrade, the <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com//digitalsourcereviews/159/">Mark Levinson No.30.6 Reference D/A processor</A>, after sending his personal unit from 1992 back to the factory for the required work. What he got back included new D/A converters in the unit's twin towers. Was it worth the effort, and does this processor still define the state of the art? You'll want to read his report to find out.

Trying to get a grip on where the new high-end audio formats, DVD-Audio and SACD, might be going? A logical place to start might be to check with the factories getting ready to crank out the discs and see how the orders have so far stacked up. After conducting just such a survey, the <A HREF="http://www.recordingmedia.org">International Recording Media Association</A> (IRMA) released last week the first projections for next year's worldwide marketplace introduction of DVD-Audio and SACD.